The Dark
by cymba
Summary: Angelus returns causing havoc in both LA and Sunnydale forcing both the Angel Team and Scoobies to make some difficult choices and face up to some uncomfortable truths. Spike/Buffy, Cordelia/Angel are the main "pairings".


**Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to me, this is for fun not profit.**

**Summary: Angelous returns causing havoc in both LA and Sunnydale forcing both the Angel Team and Scoobies to make some difficult choices and face up to some uncomfortable truths.**

**Authors Note: This story started as a relatively short Cangel Spuffy fic, however to get the Characters where I needed them to be without plot holes I had to write a back story which created other stories. The first Buffy chapters are already written but will appear a bit later. There will be no "Buffy bashing" and minimal OC interaction. **

**This story is set after "Dad" in Angel and "As you were" in Buffy. Any feedback would be great and I am looking for a beta to help with grammar/charactisation and anything else really. **

Cordelia sat on the sofa with her head in her hands, the lingering pain of todays earlier vision drummed a steady beat across her forehead but that wasn't the reason for her anguish. The last few weeks had been spent adjusting to their new arrival and things had just started to fall into a routine. Holtz was off the radar and the team had adjusted to being one person short due to babysitting. Mostly it was her but she didn't mind, the vision hangovers were getting worse plus fighting slimy hell demons or cuddling cute baby? Well it wasn't exactly a stumper. It didn't hurt that she was head over heels besotted with her charge. Connor was a sweet baby, he only cried when he was hungry or needed a diaper change, most of the time she spent on duty was passed snuggling and chatting away to the little guy who had just broken his first non-wind induced smile. Fred had turned out to be a valuable member of the team with a knack for translating that she, bizarrely, attributed to being good at Math. Wes and Gunn seemed to be getting on better than ever often coming into work bickering about who beat who on the latest PS2 game the night before. Angel was... well Angel was Angel. Connor had given him something that he hadn't had since Buffy, somebody to love, somebody to live for. He and Cordelia often shared a bed with Connor between them, it was nice... but she didn't like to dwell too much on their dynamic.

Yep things were good for a while there are Angel Investigations, that should have been their first clue really. Things were good so obviously all hell was about to break loose. So how had it started? It was hard to pinpoint, what was that word Wes had used that time for a prophecy? Confluence. That was it, it was a confluence of events, dominoes falling down until everything went confluooey. For Cordelia herself it started with a Doctors appointment.

Two Weeks Earlier

"You want to do what?"

Cordelia sat in the impressively comfy chair in one of the top Los Angeles's neurosurgeons offices. The place was plush, she didn't keep abreast of the latest development in interior design with the same vigour she followed fashion but she knew enough to know the office decor and furnishings were as hot as it got. She held a latte in her lap, it was like manna from heaven, it had been years since she had been able to afford a Doctors were they served coffee, let alone coffee from top of the range Dolce latte mugs. Obviously she still couldn't afford it but the local free clinic had been baffled and her case was so "interesting" Dr Stratton had took it on pro bono.

"A journal article, it will make no difference to your treatment, all you have to do is sign the release. All completely anonymous of course."

"Erm I don't think it's..." Cordelia began but Dr Stratton had hit his stride and continued on animatedly.

"Your case was astounding to begin with, those CAT scans with no obvious cause... but now these latest results! Miss Chase you are a medical miracle and quite frankly it would be criminal not to publish"

"Dr Stratton..."

"The fact you have no symptoms, besides the headaches of course, is simply astounding. We're talking lead article here Miss Chase and not some back water journal either I mean.."

"Hey, Doc!"

The Doctor was startled out of his stride by Cordelias yell, she slammed the latte down and levelled her gaze at him.

"First of all they aren't "headaches" they are agonising, soul destroying, incapacitating mini trips to hell..."

"Yes of course I merely meant..." He began

"Do I LOOK like I'm finished? Secondly when I appear in print it's going to be because I am the hottest new thing to hit Hollywood, or possibly as Ben Affleck's new love interest, NOT because I have decaying brain cells or whatever. Thirdly I thought I was here for, you know, Doctor stuff. Pills, treatments, tests, you know, stuff to help me get better? So why don't you stop rambling on about how astounding it all is and start measuring my head or whatever." Taking in the Doctors cautious expression she softened her tone and added "I'm done now."

Dr Stratton removed his glasses and began to clean them, Cordelia was hit by the memory of Giles doing the same, usually as he was delivering bad news. She often thought it was because he didn't want to see the reaction he had provoked.

"I apologise Miss Chase, I thought I had made myself clear. At this point there is nothing I can do apart from medicating the pain. You have made it quite clear you are opposed to exploratory surgery so we are simply out of options. We will just have to monitor the situation."

A moment ago Cordelia had felt strong, she tended to feel helpless during these appointments. Lost in a sea of medical jargon and fear. It had felt good to let loose on Stratton, she had felt in control for once. Now she was deflated, there was nothing they could do? Isn't that what they said right before the little kid died on ER or whatever?

"Obviously that would be another benefit from the proposed journal article, I am obviously well informed of the latest medical developments in this area but medicine is, of course, collaborative and the more people know about your case within the community the more chance there is of finding the cause or treatment"

"Uh huh... well... okay then. Sign me up or whatever".

She didn't hold much hope, the medical was stumped which meant the only thing left to turn to was the mystical, but the only way she could do that was by telling her friends what was going on and she wasn't ready for that. Not yet.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Back at the hotel Cordelia did what she did whenever she had a Doctors appointment, went looking for a distraction. Today though it was easier said than done, Connor and Angel were upstairs asleep, Gunn and Wes were out on recon for a low level case and Fred was knee deep in proof reading some translation Wes had done. Things were that bad she was considering offering to help Fred when a confused looking guy walked through the door. "Bingo" Cordelia thought and began her pitch.

"Welcome to Angel Investigation we help the helpless, how can we help you?"

"Huh?"

Cordelia took in the guy using her usual priorities- Rich? Hmm, doubtful , jeans and mid range sneakers topped by a sweatshirt. No tell tale Porchse keys or expensive cell phone... still though looks can be deceiving... just look at David Nabitt. Cute? She gave him 7 out of 10, he was tall and well built. His skin was ebony and he didn't have a blemish. She couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity, a guest role in a vision maybe?

"How can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Charlie Gunn"

"_Charlie_?"

"Yeah, I'm his brother, Reggie"

"Reggie? Brother?"

The guy looked uncomfortable and no wonder, he probably thought she was some sort of repeating... thing.

"Thing is "Reggie" Gunn doesn't have a brother"

"He tell you that?"

Come to think of it he hadn't, not specifically. He always said he only had Alonna but that didn't mean he didn't have a Brother that he discounted for some reason. It wasn't like Cordelia ever counted her parents in lists of people she could rely on.

"Look I was told he worked here, so where is here"

Oh so this guy wanted to bring it with the attitude? Well he didn't know who he was messing with.

"Listen "Reggie"-"

"Why do you keep saying my name like that?"

"-Gunn is my friend, and as he never mentioned you you'll excuse me for being just a tad sceptical about some random guy who shows up claiming he is his Brother. I mean come on, do you even know him? Because if you did you would know that he would never, and I mean _never_, let _anybody_ call him "_Charlie_", even if they were his imaginary Brother."

The man eyed her for a second before sighing

"Looking Sugar, I came two thousand miles to see my Brother _Charlie_, not to be bitched at by some jumped up secretary so why don't you be a good girl and take down my number and when somebody a little more helpful gets in you can pass the details on to them"

Cordelia was just about ready to explode but before she could begin to reply a voice from behind them interrupted.

Gunn and Wes stood in the hotel door looking slightly dishevelled. Wes looked confused and slightly concerned but Gunns expression was steely and his gaze was fixed on the visitor

"Hi Reggie, still an Asshole I see"

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Fred was worried, everybody thought she was cookie, out of touch with humanity and human interaction due to her years of slavery. The truth was slightly more complicated, what she lacked in interpersonal skills she more than made up for in mood reading. Being a slave had given her a finely honed skills when it came to reading danger and fear, true she didn't know how to deal with these things once she felt them but she could feel them stronger and faster than anybody she knew. Well apart from Lorne but then he had an unfair advantage what with being an empath demon and all.

She had sensed Reggie was trouble as soon as he walked through the door, she had hung just out of sight listening to he and Cordelias exchange which only confirmed her fear. Then when Charles had walked in things had gotten worse. Reggie had told Charles that somebody called Loretta was dying and wanted to see him and his sister, Charles had informed Reggie of Alonnas death in just about the least tactful way that Fred had ever heard. The rest of the exchange was a mish mash of shouting and recriminations which eventually created a screaming Connor which in turn created an angry Angel who came down and ordered Reggie out of the hotel. As soon as Reggie was out the door Charles marched over to one of the hotel sofas and had started unpacking the hold all he was carrying producing various weapons then he began to wipe the blades down with a determination and effort that was completely unneccarsary seeing as the blades were spotless.

Fred had waited for Cordelia to go and sort things out and sure enough she went over and put her hand on his shoulder. To Freds surprise though Charles shrugged her off and snapped

"It never happened, an' I **don't** wanna talk about it"

Fred was shocked by Charles reaction but more shocked when Cordelia simply nodded and walked away to take a still crying Connor from an exasperated Angel. Wes was eyeing Charles wearily and Fred thought maybe he would step in given that they were such good friends but then he too turned to Angel and began to give him a run down of the job they were just on.

Fred was... mad. Yes, mad. Mad with them all, it was Cordelias job to fix them when they were broken, she was the heart after all. Wes was Charles friend and Angel was his boss yet they had all turned away from him even though he was obviously hurting and desperately needed somebody to talk to.

She watched as Cordy soothed Connor and Angel went upstairs to change, Wesley walked into the office and began checking over her work.

"Good stuff Fred, I see you spotted an error I made with the tenses, obviously it's easier for you to spot because you are still learning. It's been a while since I studied the syntax of Levithion"

Normally Fred would let a remark let that go, she understood it was annoying to have a rookie correcting your errors, indeed usually she was the one to make excuses for her own success. Not this time though, this time she was mad.

"I guess so, though in my experience the more you do something the better you get at it. I suppose translating is the exception to the rule"

She immediately regretted her remark, Wesley looked abashed and began to stammer.

"I'm sorry Wesley, you're right. You have so many languages in your head it's bound to be easier to make a mistake"

"No Fred, _you're_ right. You did a fine job, better than me and you should have full credit"

"Well it's just a case of applying basic mathematical principles to the grammatical formula, people don't realise how useful maths can be when translating, after all maths is the universal language, which, when you think about it, makes it weird that they don't apply it more to language. I think when aliens contact us it will be through math, I say when but sometimes I think that maybe they are doing it now, you know, through patterns in the rain or grass, maybe even crop circles. Sure I know what your thinking-"

"I doubt it"

"-why would aliens contact us that way when...what...sorry... I'm doing it again aren't I?"

"No meant, I doubt you know what I'm thinking"

"It wasn't "Shut up Fred"?"

"Gosh no, never. I was thinking about what a remarkable young woman you are"

"Oh, oh..." Fred cursed herself inwardly, this wasn't what she wanted to talk about.

"Talking of remarkable women, are you going to speak to Charles about his Brother?"

"I, erm, how is that talking of remark-"

"It's just you two are friends and I think he needs to talk to somebody about what's going on"

"Well yes, quite, I imagine Cordelia will see to it in a while"

"She tried, you saw what happened!"

"Yes, but Fred, Gunn and I... we don't have that sort of relationship. He wouldn't be comfortable talking to me about this, and, to be frank, nor would I"

"Fine"

"Fred please, try to understand that men like Gunn and I don't necessarily need to talk about our feelings"

Fred finally realised why Cordelia did so much eye rolling, some of the things that these guys said had no other appropriate reply. Reggie had said somebody was dying, somebody who wanted to see Charles which meant that whoever it was cared about him which meant that Charles may care about them. Wesley was right, Charles may not want to talk about his feelings but the fact was there was a dying person involved which meant that the whole thing was time sensitive. Well fine, if Cordy wasn't going to do it and Wesley wasn't either that meant she had to.

She strode out of the office with great purpose but the closer she got to Charles the more she realised she didn't have a clue were to start. He was still cleaning the mark free weapons and he had a face of thunder. She cautiously took a seat next to him and when he didn't react she leant over to watch him work

"That blade looks pretty clean"

"Yeah, could be cleaner though"

"I guess, I suppose even the smallest particles of dirt or blood or guts could cause resistance and if you are depending on it to save your life I guess that's a bad thing"

Charles sighed and stopped cleaning. "Stupid babbling idiot", she thought, "you come over here to talk to him about his brother and instead you irritate him with nonsense about resistance".

"You know Fred, when you do that thing, when you talk about stuff that has nothing to do with anything and nobody can understand what the hell your point is?"

Oh great she had upset him more and now he was going to bite her head off.

"I'm sorry Charles, I just-"

"I really like it, it soothes me"

"-go off on these tangents that... huh? Really?"

He turned away from his blade to look at her.

"Yeah, I do"

"Oh, well, that's..." She could feel the blush spreading and suddenly she was aware that she hadn't washed her hair for two days.

"Whose Loretta?"

His face turned hard again and he turned back to his blade and began cleaning, though this time with less aggression.

"She's my Auntie"

"I thought you had no family?"

"Yeah"

"Well, isn't an Auntie family? And a Brother for that matter"

"I told Cordy I don't wanna talk about it"

"Reggie said Loretta was dying"

"So?"

"I don't know what happened between you and your Brother and I don't know anything about Loretta but if she does die and you don't see her because your angry at him you may regret it, and I don't want you to be sad. You're a good person and you saved me so maybe I can try to save you a little." And stop, Fred commanded herself.

It was like he hadn't heard her, he just went right on cleaning. Then after a moment he began to speak.

"I had parents once you know, two of 'em. We weren't all like mini vans and soccer but it was... normal. Then Dad ran out on my Mom and left her with me and Reg, she met some other guy. He was okay you know? I wasn't crazy about him but he made her happy and then Alonna came and we were like a family again, for a while. Then one night there was a fire, dumb ass landlord cut corners with the smoke alarms and by the time we knew about it the only way out was through the window. Reg just went, I mean, he didn't wait for me or look for Alonna. He was my big brother you know? Supposed to look out for me. I ran into Alonnas room, there was smoke everywhere and it was tough to see or breathe."

He paused and stopped cleaning the knife, Fred wanted to say something, anything to stop him telling the rest. She knew there was no happy ending and she could see it hurt him recounting it. But she kept silent, it was important for him to say this, she had a feeling he hadn't told many people before.

"I found Alonna under the bed, you know nowadays they tell you 'Make sure your kids know what to do if there's a fire'... but then? Hell, you just don't think it'll happen to you. Anyway I got her out and I swore I would always look out for her the same way Reg never looked out for me."

"Your Mom and Alonnas Dad... they died?"

"Yeah"

"Oh Charles, I'm so sorry", she put her hand on his arm and tried to find the right words to make him feel better but she couldn't find any. She still didn't know who Loretta was and Charles had turned back to his cleaning with a renewed vigour. Time for a differ tack.

"I'm hungry, are you hungry? If you are I thought we could visit the diner down by the mall. It's all 50s style and I always want to eat there when I go past, I love pancakes and they don't do them here like they do back home but if anywhere would it's a 50s diner..."

He stopped cleaning and turned to her again.

"Sure" He jumped up dropping the blade back in the bag carelessly "let's go".


End file.
